Kingdom of Cold Hearts
by Shadowhunter69
Summary: What if Katara and Sokka had never found the Avatar? Katara goes wandering off on her own...will she make it out alive even if she had been saved? ZUTARA! Welcome to the Kingdom of Cold Hearts...
1. When the Cold Comes

**Hello, welcome to my new story "Kingdom of Cold Hearts"! I hope that you enjoy this first chapter! Please review on my chapters so I know if I'm doing well or not. I will not continue stories when they don't get reviews or follows or favorites! So please take part even if you don't like the story. Enjoy the first chapter! :D**

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**Chapter 1**

**When the Cold Comes**

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KATARA

"Gran Gran, I can take care of myself," I say to her kindly.

"That's what they all say in the beginning, Katara," She says pointing a finger at me. She may look old but I am here to tell you that I have not lived to see Gran Gran not "Take care of" someone to whom disobeyed her. Because "she's always right," she "has to things her way and only her way" and if it isn't done her way she'll make sure it is by the end of the day. But don't get me wrong. I love Gran Gran and she is a sweetheart but trust me don't get on her bad side. "They all say," Gran Gran resumed "'Oh nothing will happen to me' but look where that took them. Raped, murdered, raped then murdered…"

"Gran Gran! Really, I am very responsible. I have gone through and passed all the survival tests Dad has taught me. I'm still not a master waterbender _yet, _but I can still use it to hurt some sickko who wants to rape me. You have nothing to worry about. Trust me, please, Gran Gran?" I added the "please" and gave her my begging look that always works on Gran Gran.

"All Right—"

"Thanks, Gran Gran!"

"—Don't forget to be back by eleven!" She calls out as I leave the snow and ice covered hut. I grabbed a spear and was about to leave the village when my brother, Sokka, ran into me.

"Where do you think you're going, Katara?" He says in slight mockery.

"Hunting," I say as I try to move past him. But he blocks me.

"Reeaaallly?" he said like he didn't believe me.

"Yes, really. Now let me go." I try to move again but he keeps blocking my path.

"Uh-uh," He said shaking his head. "You're not going without me."

"Uh, yes. I am." Stop blocking me dammit!

"No, you're not."

"Jesus Christ, Sokka! Just let me go will you?" He stands there with his arms crossed making a face at me.

"Are you suurrreee?" I raise one eyebrow at him. "Because you know, you might just need my spectacular hunting skills." He started making moves with his spear trying to act like he knew what he was doing until it flipped out of his hand. While he was putting on that show, I slipped away without him noticing. Seriously. I'm starting to think I'm the oldest sibling.

Dammit. I should have listened to Gran Gran. It's past eleven and I can't find my way back home. SHIT. I curse under my breath. It's so cold. I don't know what to do. Gran Gran is going to play the "I told you so" card when I get back. If I get back. There are ice chunks all over the place and I just can't seem to maneuver around them. I try using my waterbending to push them out of the way. As usual it backfired on me. I mean, what did I expect? I was going to be able to move this ton of water with minimal training? Great move Katara. Great move.

I can't feel my toes or my fingers at all. The ice cold wind bit my face as I trudged on but there was no sign of life anywhere. Only the rush of water and the ice banging into each other. I am so hungry and I'm so…tired…maybe I'll just lie down here and get some sleep…sleep…so…cold…

ZUKO

"Zuko!" Uncle calls from behind me.

"What?" I growl.

"There is a girl in the snow. We should help her." He says looking through a scope.

"The only thing that we should be helping is ourselves!" I say angerly. "Our ship has been stuck in the ice for weeks and we didn't move since!"

"Nephew, that girl needs our help. If you're not going to help, I will." As he began climbing down the side of the ship.

"UNCLE!" I run to the side of the ship. "GET BACK HERE!" How dare he! We need to get out of this ice or WE WILL DIE. I climb down the side of the ship after Uncle and followed him to the girl who lay a half a mile away.

By the time I got there, Uncle was already on his knees checking her pulse. The girl was from a watertribe from the looks of her clothing. Her skin was a light color of mocha and her dark braid was full of crystals of snow. Her lips were a pale shade of blue and was so still I thought she was dead until Uncle said, "She's alive, but only barley. We need to get her into warmth so she'll live." I didn't protest like I usually would have instead I just nodded my head. She was beautiful. I couldn't let her die out here like this…

ZUKO! Snap out of it! You barley know this girl, why should you care if she dies?

"Zuko, take the girl. I'm going to run ahead and make some tea for her!" What?

"What? Why me?"

"Who else?"

"You."

"Oh, Nephew. You know I'm old. Be a big boy and take the girl," He chuckles. Because he and I both know he's capable of picking up the girl. I grunt. And pick up the girl. She was actually really light. I hold her under the knees and behind her neck and hold her against my chest. _She's so cold…_

I liked the way her head fit perfectly on the side of my shoulder and how comfortable it was to have her in my arms…ZUKO! Seriously, what is with you? Stop having those silly thoughts. When I made it back to the ship, I was getting ready to take her to a room until I realized there were no more rooms. This was a small ship. It only had a few rooms and those rooms were for supplies (lots of it) and Uncle's room and my room. I carry her to Uncle. "Where do you want me to put her? There is no more room for her!"

"Then she'll have to share a room."

"With who?"

"Who else?"

"Not this again Uncle," He just chuckled and looked at me.

"Well it's weird for a young girl to share a room with an old man, so I guess she'll have to share a room with you."

"What?!"

"You heard me,"

"What will she think when she wakes up?" I am not looking forward to what she think I did to her when she wakes up.

"We'll have to wait and see," he winks before leaving me with her. I take her to MY room lay her on MY bed. I take off the heavy coat she was wearing and place it on the foot of the bed. I draw the covers up on top of her up to her neck and look down at her and sigh. I guess I'll have to sleep on the chair in the corner of the room.

KATARA

I wake up to a strange room. It took me a minute to my vision to clear. I looked around the room and saw red flags with a symbol of fire on the walls. My coat was by my feet and I was in a…bed. _Where am I?_ There was tea next to me, still hot. I took it in my hands and gulped big sips and savoring the variety of flavors and warmth. I was too busy chugging the tea to notice someone sleeping in a chair in the corner of the room. He had a large scar on the left side of his face and a jet black ponytail. I got up from the bed and tried to stand on my feet and was taken back. My knees buckled beneath me and I had to grip the table next to the bed to keep from falling on my face and making any noise. I looked back at the guy sleeping. He hadn't budged. I slowly made my way over to him. _What are you doing? You can't sneak up on a stranger like that!_ I was about to touch him on the shoulder when he jumped up and pinned me to a wall holding my wrists above my head. "Ouch! What are you doing?" He jumped back, and moved away from him.

"Shouldn't you know better to not sneak up on people like that?!"He growled. Well, he sure has an attitude.

"Sorry," I put my hands behind my back and look off to the side. I then take up the courage to meet his golden eyes with my own. "Where am I?" I ask.

"You're on a Fire Nation ship." I look at him utterly lost. What does he mean by Fire Nation? Is that some sort of secret club or something?

"What's the Fire Nation?" I ask. He looked at me like I was crazy. Was I crazy?

"Ummm…are you okay?" he asked me.

"I…don't know…" I say. I'm telling the truth. I really don't know.

"What's your name?"

"I-I-don't know…" He looks at me with a very wary expression.

"Do you remember anything?"

"I just remember being cold…so cold…" I shiver.

"Come on," He said taking my arm and dragging me out of the room. He keeps dragging my arm until we got to another room. Inside was an old man drinking tea. "Uncle, we have a problem." He tells him. He lets go of me and whispers in his ear and the uncles face turns from happy to sad.

"Oh, my dear…" He says as he walks towards me. "You don't remember anything?" My eyes start to tear. I don't even know my own name. I shake my head. "I'm so sorry. We'll get you back to you were before."

"Uncle," ponytail says behind him almost like a warning. The old man shoos him off.

"Here, let me get you some clean clothes." He goes into a back room and brings out some red attire. "The maids would wear these, but we don't have any…I think this will fit you well…" he said as he hands them to me.

"Thank you," I say as I head back to the room I was in before to change. Maybe these people aren't so bad.


	2. Name

**Here is the second chapter! I hope you enjoy it! Please make sure to leave a review! (please...)**

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Chapter 2

Name

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ZUKO

How can she not remember anything?! This was so frustrating beyond belief. How can I...I mean we...help someone who does not even know who they are? "Uncle," I whisper to him while the girl was changing. "We can't do this."

"Nephew, what else is there to do? We are trapped, she is trapped, is there much harm done?"

"Yes! We have limited food and supplies, and we can't afford to have another mouth to feed!"

"Um...excuse me?" A small voice comes from behind me. It was her. She had dressed in the Fire Nation gown. It was a v-neck and fell right above the knees. It was a darker shade of red; almost maroon. It hag intricate swirls of gold on the bottom half of the dress below the red ribbon tied around her waist and on the top half it was laced up almost like a corset, and the sleeves were black lace that went out to just above her elbow. She had let her hair out which had it fall in long curls beside her waist. Jesus Christ. I can't help from staring. "I'm sorry to be such a burden..." Shit. She had overheard me talking to Uncle. "I can leave, so you won't have to worry about me. I know it must be hard on you both. Thank you for being so kind and generous but I think we'll all benefit if I'll just leave." She then left the room. Uncle looked at me like it was all my fault. Okay..maybe it was my fault. He pointed to the door while still looking at me gesturing me to go and talk to her.

"All right...I'll go talk to her..." I left the room and went up on deck. She was about to climb over the side of the ship when I called out, "Hey!" She looked at me but then resumed climbing over the ship. I ran at her, "WAIT!" I grabbed her hand and pulled her away to face me. I noticed she was still in the dress. "So, you're going to run off into the snow...wearing that?"

"_That's _what you came to tell me?" She tried to pull away from me but I held her tight.

"No, just listen, okay? I'm sorry about what I said about you in there." I pause and look her straight in the eyes, "please come back." Her hair whipped around her and her face was red from the cold. "Let's get you inside or you might get almost die from hypothermia again." I tried to pull her but she wouldn't budge.

"Did you know me before I lost my memory?" She asked in a whisper.

"No," I wish I had.

"I don't know where I'm from, or who I am, or what I've done but...I'm glad you found me, or I would have been lost forever..." I then noticed I was still holding her hand, but I didn't let go. I looked back up to her and tears started to run down her face. I couldn't stand to see her like this. Next thing I knew she threw her arms around me and buried her face in my chest and cried. I stroked her hair and held her there. She cried so hard. So many tears. I never seen anyone cry that much. She let go of me and started crying out in anger throwing her arms around totally devastated. "What did I do to deserve this?!" She screamed. "I want to know if I ever had a family! I want to know if I had people who love me! If I had siblings, or a mom or a dad!" She flailed her arms about and the whole boat seemed to shake. She went on and on and the ice started to crack and then the whole ship started to move and sail. The jerk of movement made us fall and made her fall on top of me. I blushed, I can tell and she did too. At that moment, at that moment I tell you, Uncle walks out.

"Nephew! We started to mov-" He saw us laying on top of each other and just gave a enthusiastic smile at me and said, "Um. I'll just leave you too alone..." As soon as he goes back we look back at each other and jump off each other. We were both blushing in the extremes.

"You're a waterbender!" I exclaim. She looked at me like I was crazy, again. I roll my eyes and sigh. "You can bend water." Still weird looks. "You can manipulate water into doing what you want it to do."

"So...I broke the ice?"

"Yeah..."

"Are there others like me?"

"Yes."

"Are you?"

"Yes, but I'm different. I bend fire. I create a torch of fire in the palm of my hand and close it to make it disappear. She stared wide eyed. "There are also earthbenders and airben-well, earthbenders."

"Oh." She looked off into the distance and moved closer to me. "Where are we going now that we...I...got the ship moving?"

"We'll See."

We went back inside and to my room. She sits on the bed. I feel bad that I have nothing to call her. "Would you like me to give you a name...until we find out your real one? I mean...you can pick out your own name but..I mean..." I feel sort of uncomfortable talking about this.

"Yes, I would like that." She smiles. I can't get enough of that smile. Hmmm. What should I call her?

"Uhhh...Lara? No, no. Not that. You need something unique..." I stand there and think. Monika? No. Katie? No. Lin? No, that's over used. We found her in the snow...Yuki. That's the name that means snow. "Yuki." I say. She beamed she ran over and hugged me.

"Thank you..." I smile. I can't believe it. This girl, Yuki, is the the only person in three years who had been able to make me smile. I could get used to this.

KATARA/YUKI

I'm so unbelievably happy right now, I can hardly contain it. I finally have a name. Yuki. Something I can respond to. I still wonder what my real name is, but this is a start. I had a feeling at first that Zuko did not like me, but maybe he does care. I'm starting to feel an attachment to him and his uncle.

I wonder how I can bend this water...does it usually happen on accident? Or can I harness it like Zuko had with fire? Both? Regardless, I want to learn how to use it. Zuko said there are other waterbenders like me. Maybe I can learn from them. "Zuko?" He looked back at me. "Can you teach me how to use waterbening?" He shakes his head.

"I don't know any of the forms, and I'm not a waterbender." Oh.

"We need to get you back to where you came from..." he said sadly more to himself than me. I want to know where I came from, but I want to stay with Zuko also..."Chances are you are from the water tribe north of here." I was happy, I really was. But still...

"Zuko, can I tell you something?"

"Sure,"

"I'm not sure if I want to go..."

"What do you mean?" I'm sure what I mean.

"I don't know. It's just that...oh, I don't know...I just will miss you if I leave..." oh god. I just met this guy and I'm telling him I'll miss him? What is wrong with me? I'm probably turning beet red by now, but what I said was true. The problem was I didn't think he really cared...

"I'll miss you too..." he whispered barley audible. He blushed too. This is so awkward.

"WHO WANTS TEA?!" Zuko's uncle barged into the room. He scared the living shit out of me. I didn't notice how close I was to Zuko until I almost fell on him from fright.

"UNCLE!" Zuko yells. "Don't scare us like that!"

"Well, do you want tea or not?"

"I will." I say taking a cup from the tray and finally Zuko gives in and takes a cup from the tray as well. We go above deck and sip our tea when in the distance we could see a light and smoke coming from a...village. Is this where I'm from?


	3. Amber Eyes

**Thank you for the reviews! Only four? C'mon guys. You can do better than that. Please review! It means so much to leave a quick review. Thank you for those who have reviewed and please continue doing so. I hope this chapter satisfies your hungry Zutarian needs! Enjoy!**

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Chapter 3

Amber Eyes

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KATARA/YUKI

"Zuko?" I call out.

"Yuki?" I feel like there is something familiar about this place. About the snow on the ground, the grooves in the ice, and the wall that surrounds the village we are heading full speed at. There is this part of me inside that's pulling at me trying to be noticed.

"I think this is where I'm from…"

"Do you remember?"

"Well, I recognize it. I don't remember anything about it though."

"Are you ready to go back?" To be honest, I don't. My headache has only gotten worse, and I don't want to go back to something that I don't remember. I'm tired of trying to remember. I want to live for a while and start something new. Do something that does not require my past life.

"No."

"No?" I turn to Zuko and walk towards him.

"I'm not ready. I don't want to go back. At least, not right now."

"Yuki, we are already headed there. Don't you at least want to—"

"No!" I shouted. Zuko raised his arms in surrender and gave me a cocky side smile.

"Alright, alright. But we can't turn around. Unless, we want to get stuck again." Okay, that was understandable.

"So…where are we headed now?"

"I guess back to the Fire Nation."

"Then what?"

"I still have to finish my mission."

"What mission?" he sighs and rubs his face with his hand.

"To capture the Avatar," Okay, I have absolutely no idea what he was talking about. My face must have gave away what I was thinking because he said, "The Avatar is the master of all four elements. You know how you can bend water and me and my uncle can bend fire? Well, the Avatar is the only person who is able to bend air, earth, fire, and water. He's been in hiding for a hundred years and I made it my destiny to find him."

"Is he a threat?"

"You could say that. I mean, my father and grandfathers were at war with the other nations for a hundred years, and he's the only way one who can stop my father."

"Isn't that a good thing, though? To stop the war?"

"You don't understand…"

"Then make me understand!" He grunts and turns away from me to go back inside. I follow him in and down the corridors to our bedroom. "I'm so tired of not understanding!" He slams the door behind us. I get up right in his face. I look him in his golden amber eyes. I look at his scar on the left side of his face and trace it with my eyes. The moment I look back to his eyes, I see faces flash before my eyes. I hear voices. I hear blood curling screams that could raise the dead. I cover my ears and sink to my knees on the wooden floors of the room. I squeeze my eyes shut and curl into a fetal position on the ground. The screams. The fire. It's everywhere. I see a familiar woman in a tent looking at me with kindness. There was a man next to her with the same golden eyes I was so fond of. I run out of the tent only to see more unfamiliar faces and more and more amber eyes, and fire. I see those Fire Nation flags hanging off ships and on the armor of some men. The fire was everywhere. My face burned from the heat radiating off of the flames. I run to a man in blue. I tell him, "It's Mommy! There is a strange man in our tent!" We run through the screams and things start to stutter and become blurry again. The blood in the tent. The smell of iron rotting my nostrils, and the shriek I let out was enough to bring me back to reality.

I scream louder and louder. I finally understand. Those eyes.

The screams and faces has come to an end but the vision stays burned in my memory. "Yuki?" I look up to Zuko and Iroh hovering over me, eyes wide with concern. I jump up and scream.

"Y-y-you…F-Fire Nation…killed my m-mother…" I stutter. Tears streamed down my cheeks, and I couldn't feel my legs. My head felt like it was made of rocks and my heart beat was as fast as a hummingbirds. I just let it all go and fell into deep darkness.

I wake up to the humble presence of darkness. The warmth of the maroon sheets is pulled up to my chin and I'm turned on my side. I listen to the creaks that play in unison to the slow rocking of the ship. I can make out a few figures in the blackness. I see Zuko sleeping on the nearby chair in the corner of the room sleeping soundly. I feel the chilly air on my bare legs and arms as I draw the covers off of me and gently put my feet on the cold floor. I make my way over to Zuko, and kneel down so my face is level with his. His breathing slow and quiet. His face is relaxed, and in his sleep he looks so peaceful. Before I could stop myself I touched my hand to his scar and traced my figures along the same path my eyes had down earlier. "Yuki?" He mumbles. He didn't jump on me like he had the first time, he opened his eyes as if he had expected me all along. "What are you doing?" He whispers as I abruptly pull my hand away from his scar.

"I'm sorry," I say barely audible. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"No, you're fine." He yawns. "I was awake the whole time…"

"Liar," I tease. "You were not." He gets up and rubs his eyes and smirks.

"Whatever. What time is it?"

"I don't know. Sometime around three in the morning I guess." I sit next to him and put my head on his shoulder, drawing in his warmth and relax my shivering body.

"Lord Agni, Yuki! You're freezing." He pulls me closer to him and wraps me up in his arms.

"I'm sorry about my mental break-down earlier…"

"It's fine. I was really worried about you. You looked like you were in so much pain. I couldn't stand to see you like that. What happened?"

"I had a vision. A memory of my mother….It was some sort of invasion….the-the Fire Nation…"

"I'm so sorry…"

"It's okay. It wasn't you. There were others who killed my mom…"

"Oh…" He looked away.

"Zuko…"

"Yeah?"

"Do you really think the Avatar is out there? What if he died?" I whisper. His body tensed up and he let out a sigh.

"I have to believe he's out there."

"Why?" He sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose and looked back at me.

"My father, Fire Lord Ozai, is ruler of the Fire Nation. When I was ten, I spoke out of turn at an important meeting. My father decided to teach me some respect and challenged me to an Agni Kai. I did not want to fight him, and he humiliated me in front of everyone saying how weak I was. He then burned half my face off, and banished me. The only way for me to restore my honor is to capture the Avatar." I could not believe what I just heard. That is so cruel. I put my hand on his scar and Zuko closed his eyes.

"Zuko…" He opens his eyes again and looked at me. I smile. "It doesn't matter what other's think of you. It's whether or not you believe in yourself. But, Zuko, whoever thinks you are weak or incapable something, they are fools. Because I know you are someone who is determined, and no matter what you can do anything you set your mind to. Nobody should stop you from being who you are. The true honor is realizing you don't need anyone to tell you otherwise." He just stares at me from that moment on, and then laughs.

"You sound just like my uncle," He smirks.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No, it's just that I hate it when people are right other than me." He then pulls me closer and kisses me. His lips were so soft, and he kissed me so lightly it was as if a feather danced on my lips. He pulls back. My feel my cheeks grow hot and I'm glad it's dark so that he's not able to see it. My heart was thumping so heavily I was surprised he couldn't hear it. "Goodnight, Yuki. See you in a few hours…"He yawns. I get up and walk to the bed. The bed creeks under my weight as I lie down. My whole body has goose bumps from the cold. I missed Zuko's warmth.

"Zuko…?" I feel so awkward asking this.

"Hmmm?"

"Could you…uh…lie with me…? Your just really warm and—"

"Uh, yeah. Okay…I miss my bed anyway…" I can tell he's just as awkward about this as I am. He walks over and lies down next to me. He pulls me against his bare chest and I blush. _He's so warm…_ "Goodnight Yuki," He mummers in my ear.

"Goodnight, Zuko." I gently fall into deep sleep with the sounds of the creaks, tips, and the sound of Zuko's heartbeat as my lullaby.

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**So? What do you think? Is it good? Is it bad (I hope not!)? Any questions. comments, suggestions? All are welcome, even if they are bad! So, I'm practically begging you. REVIEW! (PLEASE.)**


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